Dutch back on track with a healthy Taylor

PELLA — The Central College men’s basketball team and forward Colby Taylor are both getting healthy at the same time, which is probably not a coincidence.

Taylor, a junior from Creston, recently battled illness as the team was struggling through a three-game losing streak.

The team, and Taylor, seemed recovered in a big way Wednesday night. For the fourth time this season, Taylor scored 30 points or more in a game as the Dutch defeated Luther College at home, 84-71.

Taylor scored 20 points as Central took a 42-32 halftime lead. He finished with 33 points, including 6-of-9 shooting from behind the arc and a perfect 7-7 at the free throw line, and hauled in 12 rebounds to lead the Dutch (14-6 overall, 5-4 Iowa Conference).

“Colby had a great night,” Central coach Craig Douma said. “He shot the ball really well. The team did a really nice job of finding him. He had a great mix of inside and outside scoring.”

Luther trailed by 18 points at the 10:29 mark of the second half, but went on a 3-point shooting binge and closed to within six with 2:18 to play. Taylor and junior guard Pete Walker of Red Oak had key plays in the final minutes to secure the victory.

“I thought we had some big offensive rebounds down the stretch,” Douma said. “Pete Walker came up with a big board and Colby rebounded his own miss late.”

The Dutch ended their three-game skid Saturday by taking down Coe College, 84-63. Taylor, slowed by illness, managed 16 points.

“Colby has really been battling illness,” Douma said after Wednesday’s game in Kuyper Arena. “On Saturday he couldn’t go long stints. We had to sub for him. He was getting tired. Tonight he looked healthy. He’s got his stroke back now. It’s great to see him back playing like that.”

Center Ryan Kunkel was ill at the same time as Taylor in the past week, diminishing Central’s inside power. On Wednesday, the Dutch outrebounded Luther 42-34.

“I had a cough, fever and muscles aching and that went on for a week or so,” Taylor said. “But I started feeling better on Monday. We had a rough patch for awhile, but now we’re only a game out of second place. We’re hoping to have a good run and hopefully get a home game for the (conference) tournament.”

Former rivals

Taylor and Walker were former basketball and tennis rivals in their Hawkeye 10 Conference days, but are now thriving together for the Dutch. Taylor is averaging 21.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Walker, a 6-5 guard, averages 8.6 points and 5.7 rebounds.

“Pete is so much bigger than he was in high school,” said the 6-6 Taylor. “He’s put a lot of time in the weight room. His first step is pretty much unguardable, so he can get to the hole any time he wants.”

There’s another local connection on the Central team. Kyle Smith, 6-5 sophomore from New Hampton, is the son of Bob and Christy (Boles) Smith. His mother was a star at Grand Valley High School in Kellerton, an All-American at Southwestern Community College, and a player at the University of Minnesota. The couple now resides in Grand River and Christy is a Title I reading teacher at Creston Elementary School.

Leadership role

Meanwhile, Taylor has evolved into the Dutch team leader as an upperclassman.

“He’s become more of a veteran player, he’s really honing his shot selection,” Douma said. “We have him inside and outside. He can hit the deep three, and when he’s on fire like tonight, you have to let him go. He’s good in the low block, too. He’s one of the biggest guys that we have.”

Central will attempt to avenge its more recent loss Saturday at Simpson. The Dutch blew a 12-point second half lead last Wednesday against the Storm in an 86-78 loss.

“It’s one game at a time right now,” Douma said. “We can’t worry about what everybody else is doing. We’ve got to worry about us. We didn’t quite finish the way we wanted, but tonight was a good night for us.”